“Spam” by Raymond Roy

Scrolling through my email..click down button and then look away. Why is it so hard to concentrate. My boss’s eyes burning on the back of my head. “Jacob”. he sidled to my left. “Oh, hey Boss,”I blurted out. He had a warm smile, “Just saying good morning”, “Ga-go-good morning Mr. Springer.”

What the hell is wrong with me? Micro-electric shocks shoot from the base of my cerebellum up to my cortex. Ringing in my ears.

Deep breaths..walking out the side entrance. The breeze felt good. I leaned my cheek against the cool ceramic tile.

Lighting a smoke, drawing so hard, a rogue tobacco shred sparked through the paper.

“Not bad. “Would you keep an eye on Jacob? “He’s been sitting at a desk staring blankly at the wall, going on about Spam emails.”

“Sure Thing Doc!”

Word Count-175

I have heard the expression perhaps for songwriting, “you write what you know”. I feel this holds true in story writing, fiction or non-fiction. I cannot think of too many people, including myself, that haven’t been somehow touched by mental health issues. Perhaps not full blown paranoia but, stress, anxiety/panic attacks, With information overload, 24 hour feeds…..just as our bodies need a healthy diet, so do our minds. For me, an escape is writing which challenges me on “what I know” and “where I stand”, rather than switching to a zombie scrolling mode copying and pasting the opinions of others.

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Thank you for visiting. I am a First Nations, US Marine, Father, Survivor, trying to be the best citizen I can be on the giant rock hurling through space. I hope to encourage others as I have been encouraged.
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13 thoughts on ““Spam” by Raymond Roy”

I’d be worried for Jacob. He sounds as though he has my a physical illness than a mental one although being at the computer sure can drive you mad. It came as a surprise to me that your story was set in a psychiatric unit although I agree – I don’t think anyone escapes from the clutches of stress/anxiety/panic at some point in their lives. I enjoyed your story.